Nigerian stocks fall to 8-year low, funds buy bonds

Nigeria’s stock index fell to its lowest level in over eight years on Wednesday, closing down 0.61 percent to 19,829 points, as jittery foreign investors spurned frontier markets and domestic funds switched to bonds, traders said. The all-share index has fallen 19.46 percent so far this year, dragged down by the banking and oil sectors, as yields on equities become less attractive compared with other asset classes, worsening its outlook, analysts said. It touched a intra-day low of 19,550 before regaining some ground. Fund managers have been switching into government bonds in recent months in search of higher yields and boosting liquidity in the domestic debt market as stocks continue to falter. Yields on the 3-year government bond, Nigeria’s most liquid paper, are around 15 percent.